I know a Leicester fan who says that a lot of the fans expect silence in the ground before a penalty or conversion, and get a***y if you don't shut up.

Weird.

Roughly just over a thousand down per team. Not on the face of it that worrying, but it is when you consider that there have been some big games already.

Not weird at all. Happens at virtually every rugby union game.

I don't mean it's weird for RU, I mean that it's just outright weird!

It's a different mindset. What would be seen as gamesmanship in rugby league can be seen as rude and poor behaviour in union.
I've been to union games back home where the majority of the crowd have had their back to the game. I've also been to games where people have spent large parts of the game in the clubhouse rather than on the sidelines.
Although next to no one goes to union games over here, the few that do go are there to watch events on the pitch.

www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... orth-south Interesting points here in this article. (the commenter 'PrimroseAndBlue' is me)

www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... orth-south Interesting points here in this article. (the commenter 'PrimroseAndBlue' is me)

I was watching an English Rugby Union club match on TV some time ago between Leicester and some Welsh team....can't remember who now.

Big vocal crowd too.. the game was played at Leicester

Leicester scored a try and as their kicker prepared to kick the extras you could hear a small part of the crowd booing and whistling....which i would imagine were the visiting supporters. The announcer said over the tannoy 'Here at Leicester we don't boo the opposition'

There was a cheer around the ground...and then silence.

He kicked the extras.


Later on in the game when the Welsh side scored you could have heard a pin drop as their player attempted to kick their extras.... total silence.

Great sportsmanship.


League could learn a lot from that aspect of the Union game.

We had a school trip to Anfield one year to watch the All Blacks vs. North of England XV. Apparently chucking bog rolls on the pitch and booing the opposition might be OK when you go to Wembley for the Challenge Cup Final, but the grammar schools around us frowned at the behaviour of us comprehensive school types. (We had more fun shouting when Bruce Grobbelaar went past than watching the game...)

Just about sums union up this one paragraph.

Where are the Manchester updates? Surely they can't be as sh*t as they were last year.

But they can. Bottom of National League North.

Played 3, Lost 3.

Points for - 30

Points against - 121.